School District of Lee County elections (2014)
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Three seats on the Lee County School Board were up for general election on August 26, 2014. The general election determines if candidates for each seat could garner a majority of the vote total. Because no candidate received 50 percent plus one of the general election votes in District 4, the top two vote recipients advanced to the runoff election on November 4, 2014.
Mary Fischer sought and won re-election to the District 1 seat against Marilyn Stout. The District 4 race featured incumbent Don H. Armstrong and challengers Arvella Clare, Richard L. Dunmire and Steve Teuber. Teuber and Armstrong advanced to the runoff election.
Pam LaRiviere and Carla Ronco ran to replace Thomas Scott, who did not file for re-election. LaRiviere won the open seat.
About the district
- See also: School District of Lee County, Florida
School District of Lee County is based in Fort Myers, the county seat of Lee County, Florida. Lee County is home to 661,115 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau.[1] School District of Lee County was the ninth-largest school district in Florida, serving 83,895 students during the 2011-2012 school year.[2]
Demographics
Lee County underperformed in comparison to the rest of Florida in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 24.6 percent of Lee County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 26.2 percent for Florida as a whole. The median household income in Lee County was $48,453 compared to $47,309 for the state of Florida. The poverty rate in Lee County was 14.5 percent compared to 15.6 percent for the entire state.[1]
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Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Voter and candidate information
The Lee County School Board consists of five members elected to four-year terms. Each member represents a specific group of schools. There was a general election on August 26, 2014, and the runoff election took place on November 4, 2014, for races where no candidate received 50 percent or more of the general election vote.
Candidates for the school board filed for the election by June 20, 2014. The county's elections office hosted early voting for the general election at various locations from August 16, 2014, to August 23, 2014. The early voting window for the runoff election ran from October 25, 2014, to November 1, 2014. The last day to request a mailed absentee ballot in the general election was August 20, 2014, and the runoff election deadline was October 29, 2014.
Elections
2014
Candidates
District 1
- Mary Fischer
- Incumbent
- Graduate, University of South Florida
- Former school counselor
- Marilyn Stout
- Former board member, Cape Coral Charter School Authority and Lee Memorial Health System Board of Directors
District 4
- Don H. Armstrong
- Incumbent
- Manager for a local plumbing company
- Arvella Clare
- Graduate, Bethune Cookman College and Florida A&M University
- Richard L. Dunmire
- Steve Teuber
- Former board member, 2002-2010
- Graduate, Kettering University, Baldwin-Wallace University and Detroit College of Law
- Attorney
District 5
- Pam LaRiviere
- Retired district teacher
- Carla Ronco
- Owner, Florida Living Real Estate
- Former district teacher
Election results
Runoff election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Steve Teuber |
51% | 79,875 | |
| Nonpartisan | Don H. Armstrong Incumbent | 49% | 76,597 | |
| Total Votes | 156,472 | |||
| Source: Lee County Supervisor of Elections, "2014 General Election Official Results," accessed December 23, 2014 | ||||
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Mary Fischer Incumbent |
55.9% | 40,653 | |
| Nonpartisan | Marilyn Stout | 44.1% | 32,039 | |
| Total Votes | 72,692 | |||
| Source: Lee County Supervisor of Elections, "2014 Primary Election Official Results," accessed December 23, 2014 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Steve Teuber |
33.6% | 24,060 | |
| Nonpartisan | Don H. Armstrong Incumbent |
29.5% | 21,154 | |
| Nonpartisan | Richard L. Dunmire | 19.2% | 13,744 | |
| Nonpartisan | Arvella Clare | 17.7% | 12,646 | |
| Total Votes | 71,604 | |||
| Source: Lee County Supervisor of Elections, "2014 Primary Election Official Results," accessed December 23, 2014 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Pam LaRiviere |
56% | 37,704 | |
| Nonpartisan | Carla Ronco | 44% | 29,612 | |
| Total Votes | 67,316 | |||
| Source: Lee County Supervisor of Elections, "2014 Primary Election Official Results," accessed December 23, 2014 | ||||
Endorsements
District 4 candidate Steve Teuber received an endorsement from the Personhood Florida ProLife PAC.[4]
District 5 candidate Pam LaRiviere received endorsements from the Island Coast FEA and the Teachers Association of Lee County.[5]
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $75,134.09 and spent a total of $36,928.26 by July 23, 2014, according to the Lee County Supervisor of Elections.[6]
In the District 1 race, candidates raised a total of $24,800.66 and spent a total of $6,053.13.
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures |
|---|---|---|
| Mary Fischer | $5,405.00 | $2,582.90 |
| Marilyn Stout | $19,395.66 | $3,470.23 |
In the District 4 race, candidates raised a total of $42,206.22 and spent a total of $25,029.86.
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures |
|---|---|---|
| Don H. Armstrong | $1,850.00 | $1,773.17 |
| Arvella Clare | $7,561.37 | $4,149.13 |
| Richard L. Dunmire | $17,757.12 | $6,352.77 |
| Steve Teuber | $15,037.73 | $12,754.79 |
In the District 5 race, candidates raised a total of $8,127.21 and spent a total of $5,845.27.
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures |
|---|---|---|
| Pam LaRiviere | $3,420.00 | $2,929.03 |
| Carla Ronco | $4,707.21 | $2,916.24 |
Past elections
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2012
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What was at stake?
Issues in the district
Teacher's lawsuit against governor, education commissioner
Tom Faasse, a teacher at East Lee County High School, filed a lawsuit in July 2014 against Governor Rick Scott and Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart claiming that recent education legislation was unconstitutional. The lawsuit, supported by the Florida Education Association (FEA), argued that an amendment expanding school vouchers was bundled with previously rejected amendments in a bill passed by the Florida State Legislature in May 2014. State law requires that each bill approved by the legislature only deals with a single issue. The governor's office countered that the bill was necessary to provide flexibility for students located in struggling schools. The lawsuit was not resolved, as of July 25, 2014.[7]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the school board election in 2014:[8]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| June 20, 2014 | Last day of candidate filing period |
| August 16, 2014 | First day of early voting in general election |
| August 20, 2014 | Last day to request mailed absentee ballot for general election |
| August 23, 2014 | Last day of early voting in general election |
| August 26, 2014 | General election day |
| October 25, 2014 | First day of early voting in runoff election |
| October 29, 2014 | Last day to request mailed absentee ballot for runoff election |
| November 1, 2014 | Last day of early voting in runoff election |
| November 4, 2014 | Runoff election day |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Florida elections, 2014
Area residents voted on county and statewide races on November 4, 2014. Residents of Lee County voted on races for county commission seats. Voters decided on a statewide ballot measure to amend the state constitution to allow the use of medical marijuana. The November 4, 2014, ballot included races for state legislature, state executive and U.S. House seats.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Lee + County + Schools + Florida"
See also
- Florida
- School District of Lee County, Florida
- Florida school board elections, 2014
- List of school board elections in 2014
- School board elections, 2014
- Lee County, Florida ballot measures
- Local ballot measures, Florida
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 United States Census Bureau, "Lee County, Florida," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed July 7, 2014
- ↑ Lee County Supervisor of Elections, "Home," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ Personhood Florida ProLife PAC, "Personhood Florida ProLife PAC Endorses Over 60 Candidates for the 2014 Primary and General Election," July 23, 2014
- ↑ Pam for School Board, "Home," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ Lee County Supervisor of Elections, "Candidate Financial Reports," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ ABC 7, "Lee Co. teacher claims new education law is 'unconstitutional'," July 16, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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| 2014 School District of Lee County Elections | |
| Lee County, Florida | |
| Election date: | August 26, 2014 |
| Candidates: | District 1: • Mary Fischer • Marilyn Stout District 4: • Don H. Armstrong • Arvella Clare • Richard L. Dunmire • Steve Teuber |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
